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Community Corner

UPDATE: MARC's WalkFest Block Party Postponed

MARC's WalkFest Block Party has been postponed until Oct. 8 at Northwest Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Update, 11:49 a.m. 

MARC’s WalkFest Block Party has been postponed until Oct. 8 at Northwest Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Original Story

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MARC, Inc. of Manchester’s 3rd annual WalkFest Block Party this Friday, Sept. 23, will offer an affordable night of family fun while also raising money for the group’s .

The event – which will be a combination walkathon and block party – will take place from 4-8 p.m. at Northwest Park, 448 Tolland Tpke. Individual admission to the block party is a $5 donation and registration for the walk is a $10 donation (includes a T-shirt).

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“This money will go directly into the renovations of those two new buildings to get them up and running and also to provide additional opportunities within the renovation process,” said Kevin Zingler, MARC’s Director of Marketing. “It’s going to be a fun night to raise awareness and raise funds for people with developmental disabilities.”

The evening will be hosted by Brad Davis, one of Southern New England’s premier radio personalities, and Guido Giantonio, Co-Manager of Highland Park Market, according to a press release from MARC, which is currently located at 352R West Middle Tpke.

There will be live music by the 384 East Band, kids games, vendor booths, moon bounces, face painting “and lots of fun for all ages,” said the press release.

MARC officials expect around 400 people to attend and roughly 70 individuals were signed up for the walk earlier this week.

The first two WalkFests raised over $40,000, but because of a change in format this year, Zingler said he was unsure of what would be amassed in 2011.

“This year we changed to an evening format on Friday night,” said Zingler. “It’s going to be a whole new type of event, so I don’t know at this point where we are going to be [in terms of fundraising]; it’s sort of unknown at this point.”

The first two events were held on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the 2011 edition has been switched to a Friday in hopes that more people would come out and support MARC, said Zingler.

“We have had elements of a block party [in the past] but people always told us this would be a nice event to have at night, so that’s why we are doing it at night,” said Zingler. “People have said that it would be great to have an evening thing where families could come and enjoy the park and have fun, so that’s what we are incorporating.”

In an effort to entice families to come out for a fun and affordable evening, MARC is offering a family deal. “We are doing a $20 family fun pack promotion; for a $20 donation, a family of four can go there and have dinner – hamburger, hot dog, soda, juice, water, chips – and then we also have the live entertainment there and unlimited moon bounces for the kids,” explained Zingler.

Entry to the block party for an individual is a $5 donation (and families with more than four members will pay an additional $5 donation for each person).

Registration for the walk is still open and those interested can start a team by registering online via the MARC website. Walkups will also be welcomed the day of the event.

Volunteers from many different places, including Manchester High School and East Catholic High School, will be helping out on Sept. 23.

“We have a lot of great things coming together to make this work,” explained Zingler.

As far as the new building goes, Zingler said renovations will likely begin this week. “The renovations are going to begin probably later on this week; we are thinking 4-8 weeks of renovations…we are probably not going to move until mid November at this point,” he said on Monday.

MARC – which says it has been “seeing people, not disabilities since 1952” – supports people with developmental disabilities from Ashford, Bloomfield, Columbia, Coventry, East Hartford, Ellington, Glastonbury, Granby, Hartford, Manchester, Mansfield Depot, New Britain, Newington, South Glastonbury, South Windsor, Stafford Springs, Vernon/Rockville, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor.

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